Corey Jones and Michael Morrison are headed to Triple-A Toledo as the Mud Hens continue to have injury problems this season. Jones will replace another former Erie SeaWolves infielder Brandon Douglas, who was placed on the disabled list with a shin contusion. Morrison will also replace a former Erie SeaWolves pitcher in Casey Crosby, who was also put on the DL.

Jones is hitting .200 this season with five RBIs and one stolen base. Morrison is 2-1 this season with a 5.28 ERA. He has 13 strikeouts in 15 1/3 innings with the SeaWolves.

Ryan Robowski will make his return to Erie from Lakeland. Robowski, a 25-year-old left-handed relief pitcher, came over to the Detroit Tigers in 2011 in a trade with the Arizona Diamondbacks. Arizona sent Robowski and Kevin Eichhorn to Detroit for Armando Galarraga. Robowski is 1-0 with a 4.96 ERA this season with Lakeland. He has 19 strikeouts to eight walks and has allowed 13 hits in 16 1/3 innings.

Robowski made six appearances with Erie in 2011 with an 0-1 record and 7.27 ERA. He also pitched in 25 games with the SeaWolves in 2012. He went 1-1 with a 3.32 ERA and two saves, and he had 41 strikeouts to 11 walks with Erie.

The SeaWolves are at 24 players but another move has not been announced.

–Tom Reisenweber

Who says there aren’t great moments in sports?

Lieutenant Colonel Will Adams surprised his daughter, Alayna, who was throwing out the first pitch at the Rays’ game last night.

Alayna didn’t know her dad had returned from Afghanistan.

Here’s the touching moment:

And here’s a photo from the Associated Press:

– Rick Green

Red Sox starter Felix Doubront didn’t have a good grip before he threw this pitch:

 

– Rick Green

Can you name this former player? Post your guess in the comments below.

– Rick Green

Here’s a look at Friday’s starting pitchers. Matt Harvey is pitching in the first game at 2:20 p.m.:

AL
Houston (Lyles 1-1) at Pittsburgh (J.Gomez 2-0), 7:05 p.m.
Seattle (Maurer 2-5) at Cleveland (U.Jimenez 3-2), 7:05 p.m.
Tampa Bay (Hellickson 1-2) at Baltimore (Hammel 5-1), 7:05 p.m.
Toronto (Buehrle 1-2) at N.Y. Yankees (Kuroda 5-2), 7:05 p.m.
Detroit (Porcello 1-2) at Texas (Tepesch 3-3), 8:05 p.m.
Boston (Buchholz 6-0) at Minnesota (Worley 1-4), 8:10 p.m.
Chicago White Sox (Sale 4-2) at L.A. Angels (C.Wilson 3-2), 10:05 p.m.
Kansas City (Shields 2-3) at Oakland (Parker 2-5), 10:05 p.m.

NL
N.Y. Mets (Harvey 4-0) at Chicago Cubs (E.Jackson 1-5), 2:20 p.m.
Cincinnati (Cingrani 2-0) at Philadelphia (Lee 4-2), 7:05 p.m.
Houston (Lyles 1-1) at Pittsburgh (J.Gomez 2-0), 7:05 p.m.
Arizona (Cahill 2-4) at Miami (Slowey 1-3), 7:10 p.m.
L.A. Dodgers (Ryu 4-2) at Atlanta (Maholm 4-4), 7:30 p.m.
Milwaukee (W.Peralta 3-3) at St. Louis (J.Garcia 4-2), 8:15 p.m.
San Francisco (Bumgarner 4-1) at Colorado (J.De La Rosa 4-3), 8:40 p.m.
Washington (G.Gonzalez 3-2) at San Diego (B.Smith 0-0), 10:10 p.m.

Here’s who I like — and don’t:

Read the rest of this entry »

Former Erie SeaWolves outfielder Avisail Garcia hit his first MLB home run Wednesday night against the Houston Astros.

Garcia’s shot, a three-run blast, came in the second inning.

Here’s more on Garica. Here’s a clip of his homer:

– Rick Green

The Pittsburgh Pirates got a big boost from Travis Snider against the Milwaukee Brewers Thursday night.

Here’s a clip of his big home run:

– Rick Green

Eastern League
Altoona 6, Trenton 2
Bowie 9, New Britain 1
Portland 15, New Hampshire 4

International League
Toledo 4, Scranton/Wilkes-Barre 1

Florida State League
Palm Beach 4, Lakeland 2

Midwest League
West Michigan 6, Dayton 4

Venezuelan League
Tigers 15, Cubs 10

–Tom Reisenweber

Want to know how much money a team is paying players on the disabled list?

The New York Times has an online graphic that can tell you.

Check it out at http://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2013/05/13/sports/baseball/money-on-the-bench.html?ref=sports&_r=3&

It’s a pretty slick running calculation.

For example, the Yankees have, as of this posting, have paid $399,454 to players on the disabled list on Thursday alone. The Pirates, by comparison, paid $44,400 and the Indians paid $46, 930.

– Rick Green